RSS Feeds
Announce new entries from RSS, Atom, and JSON feeds
Topics: rss, atom, feed, json feed, news, blog, changelog
Follow blogs, changelogs, status pages, and news sources, and let Netrcol announce new entries in a channel you choose.
Overview
Netrcol checks each feed you add on a schedule and posts anything published since the last check. Set it up on Dashboard → RSS Feeds. RSS 2.0, Atom, and JSON Feed are all supported, so most publishing platforms work without extra configuration.
You can track up to 15 feeds per server.
Adding a feed
- Paste the feed address and press Check feed. Netrcol fetches it and shows the feed name plus its latest entries, so you can confirm you have the right address before saving anything.
- Choose the announcement channel and, optionally, a mention role.
- Adjust the check interval, filters, and message format.
- Press Add feed.
The entries shown in the preview are already published, so they are never announced. Only entries published after you add the feed are sent.
Finding a feed address
Many sites do not advertise their feed. Common patterns worth trying:
| Platform | Typical address |
|---|---|
| WordPress | https://example.com/feed/ |
| Ghost / Substack | https://example.com/rss/ |
| GitHub releases | https://github.com/<owner>/<repo>/releases.atom |
| GitHub commits | https://github.com/<owner>/<repo>/commits/<branch>.atom |
| YouTube channel | https://www.youtube.com/feeds/videos.xml?channel_id=<id> |
https://www.reddit.com/r/<subreddit>/.rss |
For YouTube, Twitch, Bluesky, and Kick, use the dedicated Social Alerts panels instead — they carry platform-specific details a plain feed does not.
Configuration
| Setting | Purpose |
|---|---|
| Announcement channel | Where new entries are posted |
| Mention role | Role pinged with each announcement, if any |
| Check interval | How often the feed is polled, from 5 minutes to once a day |
| Maximum entries per check | Caps how many entries a single check may post |
| Keyword filters | Announce only matching entries, or never announce matching ones |
| Message format | Embed or plain text, with your own title, description, footer, and color |
Keyword filters
Both filter fields take a comma-separated list and are case-insensitive.
- Only announce entries containing — an entry must match at least one of these words.
- Never announce entries containing — an entry matching any of these words is skipped, even if it also matches an include word.
- Match keywords in the title only — when off, the entry summary is searched as well.
Message placeholders
| Placeholder | Value |
|---|---|
{title} | Title of the new entry |
{url} | Link to the new entry |
{summary} | Short excerpt of the entry |
{author} | Author of the entry, when the feed provides one |
{feed} | Name of the feed |
{date} | Publication date of the entry |
Use Send test message to post the feed's newest entry with your current formatting without waiting for the next check.
How checking works
- Each feed is polled on its own interval, and Netrcol sends
ETag/If-Modified-Sincevalidators so an unchanged feed costs almost nothing. - Every entry Netrcol has already seen is remembered, so a feed that reorders or re-publishes its items does not repeat announcements.
- If a feed publishes a large batch at once, only the newest entries are announced, up to your maximum entries per check.
- A feed that keeps failing is retried less and less often, and is switched off automatically after 20 consecutive failures. The last error is shown on its row; fix the address and toggle the feed back on to reset it.
Tips
- Feed addresses must be public
httporhttpsURLs. Addresses that resolve to a private network are rejected. - Netrcol needs Send Messages and Embed Links in the announcement channel — see Permissions & Roles.
- A busy news feed with a 5-minute interval can be noisy. Pair a longer interval with keyword filters to keep the channel readable.
Next steps
- Add your first feed on Dashboard → RSS Feeds
- Confirm Netrcol's permissions